May 19, 2010
NCAA Championships Round of 16
#6 Northwestern (23-6) vs. # 11 Miami (Fla.) (19-5)
Thursday, May 20
Dan Magill Tennis Center
Athens, Ga. 8 a.m. CT
NCAA.com Championship Web site (live stats and updated brackets)
Live Twitter Updates
ATHENS, Ga. -- Northwestern has used the last two days becoming accustomed to the facilities and warm weather at the Dan Magill Tennis Center at the University of Georgia, site of the 2010 NCAA Championships. On Thursday, NU will officially take to the courts as the No. 6 seed against 11th-seeded Miami (Fla.) bidding for its fourth trip to the national quarterfinals in the last five years.
Play between the Wildcats and Hurricanes is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. CT Thursday. For live stats and up-to-date brackets throughout the tournament, visit the NCAA.com official championship Web site. A victory by Northwestern on Thursday would send NU into a quarterfinal match at 1 p.m. Saturday against either third-seeded Florida or unseeded Mississippi.
Scouting the Hurricanes
Miami endured an up-and-down season in 2010, suffering a three-match losing skid early in the season before hitting its stride with a 13-match winning streak. Despite falling to Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Miami came back strong in the NCAA Regional rounds by defeating Boston University and South Florida by 4-0 scores. The Hurricanes are led in singles by top-10-ranked Laura Vallverdu, a senior who knows how to peak at the right time: last May, Vallverdu sprang several upsets in advancing all the way to the finals of the NCAA Singles Championship.
Northwestern is 6-3 all-time against Miami, but the two teams have never met before at the NCAA Championships. The last time Northwestern and Miami got together was 15 months ago in the first round of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship in Madison, Wis., where the Wildcats won by a 5-1 score.
The Road to Athens
Northwestern hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships, sweeping its first two opponents. On Friday, the Wildcats opened their tournament for the second straight year against Miami (Ohio) and, after prevailing in a tough round of doubles, blitzed the RedHawks in singles to put the match away early. Junior Maria Mosolova notched the clinching point for NU when she defeated first-team All-MAC performer Anastasia Dracheva, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. Mosolova also contributed to a dominating 8-1 doubles victory alongside Elena Chernyakova as the duo improved to 7-1 in dual matches this season. Northwestern then faced 37th-ranked Nebraska in the second round after the Huskers upset Illinois on Friday. After securing the doubles point for the 22nd time in 29 matches this season, Northwestern again scored the first three singles wins off the court for the 4-0 win. Two freshmen -- turvy_kate00.html" >Kate Turvy and Linda Abu Mushrefova -- picked up singles wins against the Huskers, with Abu Mushrefova becoming the only Wildcat to finish and win both singles matches on the weekend.
Twenty-Somethings
With its three victories at the Big Ten Tournament and two in the NCAA Championships, Northwestern raised its season win total to 23, marking the seventh straight year NU has reached that plateau. In her 12 seasons in Evanston, Pollard's squads have reached 20 wins 10 times and won 19 matches the other two years, setting a program best with 29 victories in 2008. Before Pollard's arrival at Northwestern in the fall of 1998, the 'Cats had not topped 20 wins since the 1986-87 season.
'Cats Qualify for Individual Championships
Following the conclusion of the team championship on Monday, May 24, the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens will be the site of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships through May 31. Senior Samantha Murray and Maria Mosolova are among those in the singles field of 64 while Lauren Lui and Elena Chernyakova were selected as one of 32 doubles teams. Mosolova is ranked as a 9-16 seed in the singles draw while Murray is making her fourth-career appearance in the individual championship.
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